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Social Acclimatisation of Jews in 18th and 19th Century
Devon

by Reverend Dr Bernard Susser

Exeter Papers in Economic History No 3:
Industry and Society in the
South West
(University of Exeter, 1970)

FROM THE INTRODUCTION

April 1970 Roger Burt

The third paper, by the Reverend Bernard Susser, is concerned with
the economic and social acclimatisation of a wave of Jewish
immigrants who arrived in the south-west between 1730 and the end of
the eighteenth century. He looks at the life patterns of the new
immigrants, the difficulties encountered by residence in an entirely
gentile society and the relatively narrow range of economic
activities which were undertaken. Most valuable, however, is the
analysis of the process of acclimatisation, traced through the
breakdown of distinctive styles of dress, appearance, language,
names, and religion, and the concomitant growth of economic and
social acceptance by the local population. By the 1880, when the
process was virtually complete, Jews had come to play a prominent
role in all aspects, and at all levels, of life in the region. The
methodological problems confronting the Rev. Susser in this study are
relatively new to the economic and social historian and the
techniques which he has evolved usefully supplement the work of
sociologists, such as Sheila Patterson and Ruth Glass, concerned with
similar contemporary issues.

SOCIAL ACCLIMATIZATION OF JEWS
IN EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH
CENTURY DEVON

Bernard Susser

Jews began to settle in Devon from about 1730 and continued to
arrive for the next 70 or 80 years.1 In the main they came from
Germany, either directly or through Amsterdam, though there was a
small number who originated in Poland.2 Their education was limited
to a study of Hebrew and post-Biblical works, the Talmud in
particular. For the most part they were barely acquainted with any
European language and were unable to write in the Roman alphabet.
Long centuries of persecution amid grinding poverty had sharpened
their minds and strengthened their will to survive. Debarred by lack
of educational facilities from the professions and by lack of capital
from trading on a grand scale, they made their livings from petty
peddling, second-hand goods and cheap jewellery.

When such a Jew arrived in England he was immediately identifiable
by his hirsute appearance.3 The biblical command, 'Ye shall not round
the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard' (Leviticus, 19,
27) was commonly interpreted by Polish and German Jews to mean that
beards were left untrimmed and sidelocks were left to grow in a
characteristic style. The exposure of women's hair, too, was governed
by Jewish law. Unmarried girls could display their hair but after
marriage this was not allowed. In Oriental countries, married
Jewesses covered their heads with a kerchief, but in Eastern Europe
they often wore wigs, either with or without an additional covering.4 Not one of the more than twenty known portraits of eighteenth and
nineteenth century Jewish women in Devon depicts them wearing wigs,
but it is reasonable to assume that only 'emancipated' women would
have had their portraits painted. Coupled with his unkempt appearance, the Jewish male newcomer would
also be recognisable by the foreign style of his clothes. One such
arrival, who subsequently travelled extensively in Devon, described
the clothes he wore when he arrived at Gravesend in 1821 at the age
of fourteen

A pair of German boots to the knees and a large black
tassel to each of the tops, a pair of nankeen small clothes, black
silk waistcoat, lead coloured nankeen longcoat down to my heels
without any laps or opening behind, and a hat with a small crown
and wide brim.5

Although he had no luggage with him, and at that age could hardly
have been adorned with a beard, his appearance was sufficiently
distinctive to attract a crowd of 'hundreds of boys' who followed
him, mocking and jeering, all the way from Gravesend to Duke's Place,
City of London, where the main synagogue was situated.

Most Jewish men from Eastern Europe wore a Kaftan, a long flowing
coat once part of the national Polish costume but from the eighteenth
century restricted to Jewish use, possibly because of some natural
tendency to conservatism in dress. Some kept their style of dress
because their livelihood was to some extent dependent on a Jewish
appearance. Thus it was obviously to the advantage of the old clothes
man, a predominantly Jewish occupation in the eighteenth century, to
look the part. He walked the streets with a pile of hats perched upon
his head and capacious garments hung from his shoulders, over which a
bag was slung. Equally recognisable was the Jewish pedlar with his
broad brimmed hat and pedlar's tray with its assorted bric-a-brac.6
Contemporary prints all portray a similar type of appearance and it
should not be thought that this was merely a caricature. That the
type was familiar in Devon is clear from an account by a French
privateer captain who was imprisoned at Millbay prison, Plymouth, in
1807. He escaped from the prison 'disguised as an old Jew man with
his bag over his shoulder'.7

After his general appearance the next most noticeable foreign
feature was the immigrant's speech. English as spoken by a foreign
born Jew conformed to a regular pattern. He pronounced 'w' as 'v',
'b' as 'p' and 'th' as 'd', as the following lines of the old clothes
man indicate:

Manasseh Lopes, according to a scurrilous handbill which
circulated in Plymouth in 1805, spoke in a similar way: 'Vel ma
deare, vat isht you vant vid me?' 9

The immigrant rarely became sufficiently proficient in English to
forsake Yiddish, his native jargon. The minutes of the Plymouth
Hebrew Congregation's meetings continued to be written in Yiddish
until 1834, by which time more than half of the adult males of the
Congregation had been born in England.10 If the minutes were written in
Yiddish it is reasonable to suppose that the proceedings were
conducted in that language. Men who were literate in Hebrew and who
could write in a fluent and educated script were unable to sign even
their names in English characters. Thus Moses Jacob, a watch maker in Redruth, signs his will which was made out in English, presumably by
a notary, with his Jewish name - his forename followed by his
father's forename in Hebrew characters.11 Yet he had been a
substantial shopkeeper in Redruth for forty years or more.12 The signatures of
Benjamin Levy provide an interesting example of Anglicisation in the
making. He was born in Hamelburg, Germany, in 1766. He landed in
London in 1782 and spent the next four years at Arundel. He came to
Plymouth in 1786 at the age of twenty and set up as an optician. In
1811 a lease was granted to him for a shop in Southside Street,
Plymouth, for a consideration of £300.13 This lease he signed 'B.
Levy' and underneath that, in Hebrew, Bunem. It is not easy to
understand why he signed in Hebrew characters when he had already
signed in English. Perhaps he had been able to sign earlier leases
only with his Hebrew name, and later, when he had learnt to write in
English, it was felt advisable to preserve the continuity of his
identity. Whatever the true explanation, this is a clear example of
the transitional stage in the process of acquiring literacy in
English. Another interesting document, a will, was written entirely
in Yiddish in Hebrew characters by the testator himself who signed
with his Hebrew name and also his English name.14 He was Moses Mordecai
of Exeter who died in 1808 after he had been a silversmith there for
at least twenty years.

There is some evidence to show the way in which the first
generation British born immigrant spoke, at least when he was
ill-educated and wrote according to the phonetics of his speech. It
is a letter written by Aaron Nathan who was born in Plymouth in 1789.
He fell on hard times when he was 38 years old, and his touching letter of appeal illustrates
the degree of literacy which he attained without formal instruction
in secular subjects and, to some extent, the way in which he
pronounced his words:

Mr Alexander Samuels

Sir,

On the 3rd of August last I wrote to the former officers of the
Congeratation of my Circumstances and that I was sorry to inform
them that I stood in the gratest of want of beaing assisted by
them, to which I never have had any reply - Mr Harris on the last
Holladays Handed my wife a half Sovering Stating that Mr N. Joseph
Sent that I no not if that Sum was from is privite Purse, or if it
was from the Congaratatons money - be that as it will I now have
to Inform you beaing on of the helders that I am Drove to the last
Extramity, without a farthin in the world having disposed of
Everything I could make money of, so as my wife and Sevon Children
Should not starve. I am now forced to apply to you to me call
[i.e. Kohol, the governing body of the Congregation] and
Congaratation in my behalf so as to Grant me Somthing In
moderatation So as to help my famly and to send me a trifle before
the meet for I can assure you I have not a thing to fetch me a
farthin.

The writing of other Jews suggested that this was not typical; for
example, the work of Henry Ezekiel, a gentleman of leisure, born in
Exeter in 1773, the son of a merchant, and brother of an 'eminent
engraver, miniature painter, and optician.

In 1817, Ezekiel transcribed a Hebrew
Almanac with the intention
of publishing it. From his dedicatory preface it is clear that he was
quite capable of expressing himself lucidly and it is therefore
interesting to note that he lapsed into Hebrew to express technical
terms for which he might have used a vernacular phrase:

To the Revd Salomon Hirchel, Chief Rabbi of the German
and Polish Jews in England.

Revd and Learned Sir,

In dedicating these few pages to you I trust I shall not be
thought presumptuous, my only motive being that this book might be
found useful particularly to those of our Community that reside
and travel beyond Seas and who cannot afford to purchase an annual
Luach (Calendar). It was by chance I met with this little Book,
printed entirely in English, entitled A Portuguese Jew's
Calendar 16

Sometimes a Jew could speak English perfectly well but he adapted
his speech to suit his needs. Thus Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote:

The other day I was floored by a Jew. He passed me
several times crying for old clothes in the most nasal and
extraordinary tone I ever heard. At last I was so provoked, that I
said to him, 'Pray, why can't you say "old clothes" in a plainway
as I do now?' The Jew stopped, and looking very gravely at me,
said in a clear and even fine accent, 'Sir, I can say "old
clothes" as well as you can: but if you had to say so ten times a
minute, for an hour together you would say Ogh Clo as I do now', and
so he marched off. I was so confounded with the justice of his retort, that
I followed and gave him a shilling, the only one I had.17

The immigrant Jew was also made conspicuous by his name. Names
like Cohen, Levi or Levy, indicated to the man in the street that the
one who bore it was Jewish, even if in all other respects there was
nothing to indicate the person's origins. Other names which were
commonly borne by German Jews were Aarons, Abrahams, Benjamin,
Ezekiel, Isaacs, Israel, Jacobs, Joseph, Mordecai, Moses, Nathan,
Raphael, Samuel and Solomon. These names occurred either as the fore-
or surname.

Changing simple Biblical names, which were already in general use,
simply because they helped to identify a person as a Jew, clearly
indicates a conscious effort to assimilate. This was not necessarily
so in the case of a man who was called Bischofswerder or Mandowsky or
Stadthagen, where the change was desirable on utilitarian grounds.
Surnames changed more slowly than fore-names, for whereas the latter
are often used at will, and are in any case subject to the whim of
one's friends, the change of surname betokens a far more deliberate
step. Nevertheless, the Jews of the south-west, as in the rest of
England, soon began to anglicize or to camouflage even their
surnames. This was done in a variety of ways:

(a) Where a name had a meaning in its original language it was
often translated into English. Thus Isaac Karmey, synagogue teacher in Plymouth
1857, became Isaac Stone;18 Elimelech Hichtenfeld became
King Field.19 When xenophobic passions ran high a Jew with a foreign
sounding name might keep it in private life, but trade under its
translation. Such a one was Ephraim Holcenberg who traded as
'Woodhills'.

(b) Often a well known name, either locally or nationally, was
adopted because of its similarity to the original. In this way
Raussman became Roseman, Durckheim became Dirk and the praenomen
Lemmle became Lemon. Jews whose patronymic was Jonah became first
Jonas, then Jones or Johnson.20 A Jewish family in Plymouth started
off life as Katzenellenbogen, modified this whilst still abroad to
Katenelson, and arrived in England before the Crimean war with the
patriotic name of Nelson. It was not always the Jew who was
responsible for anglicising his name; it has been suggested that some
wonderful innovations were due to the lack of familiarity with
foreign names on the part of immigration officers. It is said that a
New York 'Yankele', diminutive of Jacob, was renamed John Kelly
whilst a local tradition current in Plymouth asserts that a newcomer
who had already determined on a new name for himself promptly forgot
it when asked for it by the immigration officer and exclaimed, 'Shon
Fergessen' (I have forgotten) and was entered as Sean Ferguson. There
is perhaps a grain of truth in such stories, but most are no doubt
apocryphal.

(c) Surnames were modified by aphesis. In this way the synagogue
cantor Abrahams became a well known operatic star Braham and a
Plymouth Aaron became Aron.

(d) Although in the twentieth century, Jews frequently modify
their surnames by a transposition of letters, Levine becoming Elvin,
or even leVine, no examples of this method of name changing have been
noted in the west country.

(e) Lack of familiarity with English spelling on the part of the
immigrant, or inability to understand his poor pronunciation on the
part of the listener, often led to a name appearing in several
different forms. Thus Burstein in 1851 was Bernstein in 1858 and
Burenstein in 1866. A certain man joined the Exeter Hebrew
Congregation in 1830 and the folio for his account is headed '---
Luvis'. In 1833 his folio was headed '--- Lewis', which the following
year is amplified to 'J. Lewis'. In 1837 he metamorphoses into 'Lewis
Schultz' and in that name he leased a shop in Fore Street Hill in
1838. In the censuses of 1851 and 1861 he is called 'Lewis Schultz'
but in 1861 he also signed a document as 'Lewis Salz'. His name
finally achieved a stabilized form on the tombstone which marks his
last resting place and there it appears as 'Louis Schultz'. This type
of confusion is typical amongst Jewish immigrants' names.

Fore-names were anglicised even more quickly than surnames. Israel
Silverstone who came to Exeter from Poland about 1830 called his
first children by traditional Jewish names - Bella, Sara, Rebecca,
Isaac - but after ten years of residence come Clara, Maurice, John,
Selina and Fanny. The children of Jackson Marks who were born in
Poland were called Myer and Leah, those born in Plymouth were called
Mathilda, Henry and Julia. The following short list of Hebrew names
illustrates the way in which the changes took place in Devon:

Hirsch Harris then Henry
[Hirsch is the Yiddish for the Hebrew Zvi, a hart]

Isaiah Josiah

Issacher (often used with Hebrew Dov = a bear
(Jacob compared Issacher
to an ass which 'bears' a burden (Genesis 49,14) Barnett, Barent,
and later Bernard

Jonah Jonas, Jones and possibly Johnson

Judah Lion, Lippa (hypocoristic), Lewis, Louis. Lewis led back to
Levi in eighteenth century. Lion led to Lyonell then Lionel
(Jacob compared Judah to a lion (Genesis 49,9)

Meir Myer

Menachem Emanuel

Michael Mitchell (as a surname)

Mordecai Mark, Marcus

Moses More, Morris, Maurice

Nachman Newman

Raphael Ralph

Simcha Bunam or Joyful (translation)
(Bunam was a medieval French form for bon homme,
itself a translation of the Hebrew)

Ze'ev Wolf (translation) then William

Zvi See Hirsch, supra

Another distinguishing feature of
Jewish settlement in Devon and Cornwall, and not restricted to those counties,
was the limited range of business activities. In the main, Jews dealt in
second-hand goods and the lines traditionally associated with pawnbroking. They
were not without skill in the ancillary trades and appear as engravers
silversmiths and watch and clockmakers. The following table, extracted from
Woollcombe's Picture of Plymouth, 1812, illustrates the types of occupation
followed by Jews in Plymouth.

Trade

Jew

Non Jew

Slopseller

1

None

Merchant

2

1

Jeweller

1

2

Navy Agent

2

None

Broker

1

None

Salesman

1

11

Dealer in Naval Stoles

1

2

Silversmith

7

5

Umbrella Maker

1

2

Straw Hat Maker

1

None

All the above categories, with the exception of the last two,
really mean the same thing, a general dealer's shop with perhaps an emphasis on silverware or naval stores. This is
clear from the fact that half of these traders were licensed Naval
agents.21 The twenty Jews listed in the Exeter Pocket Journal, 1825
have a slightly wider range of occupations. There was a feather
dresser, a shoe and patten warehouseman, a quill and pen manufacturer
and an optician amongst the pawnbrokers, slopsellers, jewellers,
silversmiths and clothesmen, who all amounted to very much the same
thing. At the end of the century the picture given in Eyre's
Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport directory, 1896, was hardly
changed:

Trade

Jew

Non Jew

Clothier and outfitters

5

46

Pawnbrokers

8

41

Watchmaker and jewellers

3

80

Furniture dealers

12

58

Teachers of languages

1

2

Tobacconist

3

100

Commercial travellers

1

100

Cycle agent, roller skate and cycle manufacturer

1

10

Electro-plater

1

2

Loan office

1

8

The final factor and perhaps the most basic in differentiating the
Jew from his fellow citizens was his religion. So long as the Jew
subscribed to the tenets of his faith and put them into practice he
could not but help live apart in his own little 'ghetto', though
great efforts were made not to offend outside society. Observance of
the Jewish religion necessarily restricts free social intercourse
between Jew and Gentile. The most limiting factor is adherence to
dietary laws. According to a strict interpretation of these, a Jew
cannot, under normal circumstances, eat at the house of a non-Jew. It is
not therefore surprising to find that Jewish salesmen travelling in
Devon in the eighteenth century made special provision for
themselves. Some inns kept special utensils in a locked cupboard
which Jewish pedlars used. The Jews used to write their names with
chalk in Hebrew across the face of the saucepans when they had
finished with then so that those who came afterwards would know by
whom the pan had last been used. A Moroccan Jew who was a Turkish
rhubarb seller told Mayhew that about 1820 he stayed at a lodging
house in Taunton which catered particularly for Jews. His account is
rather charming:

When I go across de countree of England, I never live in
no lodging houses - always in de public, because you see I do
business dere; de missus perhaps dere buy my spices of me. I lodge
once in Taunton, at a house where a woman keep a lodging house for
de Jewish people wat go about wid de gold tings 'jewellery'. 22

Another feature of the Jewish religion which tended to set its
adherents apart was Sabbath observance. Two aspects of this were
evident to the general public. First, that Jews did not trade on
Saturday. H. Miles Brown, writing in 1961 of Emanuel Cohen in
Redruth, notes that 'local tradition says he was a practising Jew,
and could be seen waiting for sunset on Friday and Saturday evening
to close and open the shop'.23It must have made a very powerful
impression for the tradition to be extant over a century later. The
second aspect which was widely noticed was the law which forbade a
Jew to light a fire on the Sabbath day. A Jewish family would often
employ a Gentile to tend its fires and put on, or turn off, lights. So
common was this practice that there was a popular term for such a
person - a Jews' Poker.24 Jacob Fredman of Plymouth needed to have his
fire attended to and called in a passer by, who, with some amusement,
helped him out. It was, as one of Fredman's descendants is rather
snobbishly pleased to remember, the then Commander-in-Chief at Mount
Wise, father of the late Queen Marie of Rumania.25

The social acclimatization of Jews in Devon, as in the rest of the
country, was accompanied by, or was caused by, a breakdown of the
differentiating factors. Undoubtedly, the first stage in merging with
the indigenous population was for the men to remove the beard or at
least trim it in accord with the fashion of the time, for women to
abandon the use of the wig26and for both to acquire English style
clothing.27 A Jew from Eastern Europe, who for the first time
exchanged the kaftan for modern dress, looked upon this act as of
epoch making importance; it signifies as much to him as conversion
does to a Western Jew.'28 There was little enough that an immigrant
could do about his own pronunciation of English, but if he was
anxious for his son to make his way in the world he could have him
educated. This meant either a private tutor, if the family was
sufficiently wealthy, or sending the child to a school which would
accept Jewish pupils. In the case of Solomn Hart of Plymouth, this
meant that he had to go to a school in Exeter and later to one in
Plymouth kept by a Unitarian minister.29 There was no Jewish school in
Plymouth which taught secular subjects until the Jacob Nathan School
was founded in 1869.

Nonetheless, to judge from the evidence which has survived, many
Devon and Cornish Jews gained a high degree of literacy, culture and
knowledge. Lazarus Cohen invented agricultural implements,30 Israel
Joseph Solomon patented an improved magnesium flash for
photographers,31 Alexander Alexander patented a new form of eye shade.32 Henry Joseph wrote with some learning about fossils.33 Solomon
Ezekiel founded a Literary Society in Penzance where he gave lectures
which he printed.34 Israel Solomon wrote an account of his family, a
much quoted source for studies of eighteenth century Jewish life in
Devon and Cornwall.35 Solomon Joseph kept an interesting ship-board
diary of his journey to Australia in 1859.36 Then there were a number
of artists who achieved much distinction and who were in close touch
with their contemporaries. There was Samuel Hart, an engraver and
close friend of that poor tortured soul Haydon.37 Solomon Hart, Samuel's son, was one of the fashionable painters of his
day, and eventually the librarian of the Royal Academy.38 The
brothers Daniell39as well as Ezekiel A. Ezekiel40were noted
miniaturists. British birth, British education and rising standards
of prosperity, coupled with a growing degree of tolerance on the part
of the British public, enabled Jews to play a fuller part in public
life. The first Jew to hold elected public office in England was Phineas Levy, who became a Commissioner for Devonport in 1829.41Charles Marks was elected an Assessor for Plymouth in 184642 and then
comes a long line of men who were active in the town life of
Plymouth. William Woolf was Guardian of the Poor in 185543 and Israel Roseman acted in the same capacity for Stonehouse in the 1870s.44
Alderman Eliezer Emdon became a Councillor in 1872 in the place of
his father.45 A. E. Lyons was chairman of the Stonehouse local board
until he left for London to study for the Bar in 1890.46

Coupled with this breakout from the invisible ghetto was a
breakdown in religious observance. By 1860 it was difficult to obtain
a quorum for weekday services in Plymouth and even Sabbath attendance
was sparse.47 Jews began to open their shops earlier and earlier on a Saturday as most workers were
paid Saturday night and their hours of work gradually shortened.48 There is evidence to suggest that there was a weakening in the
observance of the dietary laws whilst away from home.49 Marriage with
Gentiles became more common as the nineteenth century progressed.
Sometimes Gentile women became converts.50 On the other hand
conversions to Christianity, never very numerous, declined after the
1830s.51 Apparently as Christian society was prepared to accept Jews
qua Jews they felt less inclined to abandon totally their own
religion. A small social elite paved the way for their less
well-endowed brethren, both in Devon as well as in the country as a
whole. In Devon there was the aristocratic family of Lousada at Peake
House, Sidmouth. Emanuel Lousada, High Sheriff of Devon in 1842, was
probably the first provincial Jewish Sheriff.52 Sir Morris and Lady Ximenes stayed at Sidmouth in 1819.53 Then there were the extremely
talented and well connected Gompertz brothers, Isaac and Barent, who
settled in Teignmouth. The latter's tombstone in Exeter Jewish
cemetery had a long inscription from Isaac's poetical work, Devon.
Such as these smoothed the path and set the example.

The German Jews who came to Devon and Cornwall from 1740 until
1820, their children and grandchildren, successfully integrated
themselves into the prevailing environment as far as it lay in their
power to do so. By 1880, the once flourishing and comparatively
important communities of Penzance, Falmouth and Exeter, were no more,
and though a Jewish congregation continued in Plymouth, it was no
longer composed of the original settlers or their descendants but of
newcomers from Eastern Europe. Through conversion and intermarriage,
and flight on the part of those who feared these eventualities, the
Jewish community of Devon, as of Cornwall, had assimilated itself out
of existence.

Notes

1 There was a medieval Jewish community in Exeter from about 1180
until 1290 (see M. Adler, 'The medieval Jews of Exeter', Transactions
of the Devonshire Association, LXIII (1931), 221-40). Immigration
during the eighteenth century was not restricted and until the 1760s
the poor could travel free of charge on the mail packets.

2 V.D. Lipman, 'Plymouth aliens list', Miscellanies Jewish
Historical Society of England, VI (l962) 187-4, subsequently referred
to as AL together with the number of the list'.

3 For illustrations of these see Alfred Rubens, AngloJewish
portraits (London, 1935), pp.48, 50. Professor E. B. Trease has drawn
the writer's attention to eighteenth century inventories of
herbalists which refer to Jew's Ear, Auricularia auricula-judae, a
fungus similar in appearance to the characteristic side locks.

20 There was a well known Jewish family called Johnson in Devon
(see Cataloue of an Exhibition of Jewish art and history (195), item
443),
but there is no evidence to suggest that their name was derived
from an original Jonas.

21 The Navy List, 1814.
N.B. The identification of Jews by name only from an unclassified
list is clearly open to error, though cross checking is frequently
possible

22 Henry Mayhew, London labour and the London poor (London, 1851),
I, 452. Turkish rhubarb was used as a mild laxative.

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